bought-and-paid-for
DISHONEST SCIENCE – BOUGHT AND PAID FOR.
The general public are led to believe in the integrity and honesty of scientists; and that the purpose of science is the disinterested pursuit of objective truth. Unfortunately this is by no means the case. Many – possibly the majority – of scientists are perfectly prepared to sell their “scientific” opinion to the highest bidder, and to distort the truth, and lie outright for cash. If the reader suspects that this statement is an exaggeration, read the following quotes:-
The following quote is from New Scientist (magazine) November 10th, 2018, page 44. Article:- (Book review) Eating Our Way To Hell, by Nic Fleming (Review of the book – Unsavoury Truth: How Food Companies Skew The Science of What We Eat, by Marion Nestle):-
“Food and drink firms use researchers to manipulate science - - - and boost sales - - - INDUSTRY-BACKED NUTRITION STUDIES ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO PRODUCE RESULTS FAVOURABLE TO THE BACKERS.” (My capitals.)
The following quote is from New Scientist (magazine) February 3rd, 2018, pages 33 to 35. Article Food Fighter, by Catherine de Lange:- “Industry funding can skew the findings - - - - WELL-RESPECTED SCIENTISTS END UP PUBLISHING RESEARCH THAT PUSHES UNHEALTHY MESSAGES FOR THE FOOD INDUSTRY.” (My capitals.)
The following quote is from New Scientist (magazine) February 9th, 2018, pages 34 to 37.Article. Confused About Cancer?, by Jonathan R. Goodman:- “Last year The Chief Medical Officer at one of the leading cancer centres, Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, resigned amid reports that he had failed to disclose CORPORATE FINANCIAL TIES IN PAPERS PUBLISHED IN MAJOR RESEARCH JOURNALS - - - A recent paper concluded that CLINICAL TRIALS ARE MORE THAN THREE TIMES AS LIKELY TO REPORT POSITIVE RESULTS WHEN THE STUDY HAS FUNDING FROM INDUSTRY.” (My capitals.)
The following quote is from New Scientist (magazine), November 12th 2016, pages 20 to 21. Article:- Sweet n Sour, by David Miller:-
“Of 60 (scientific) studies analysed, ALL 26 THAT FAILED TO FIND A RELATIONSHIP (between sugary drinks, obesity, and diabetes) HAD LINKS TO THE SUGARY DRINKS INDUSTRY.” (My capitals.)
The next quote is from the book How Not to Die, by Doctor Michael Greger, published by Pan Books, 2018, pages 31 to 32:- “It was uncovered that many members of the US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee had financial ties to - - - chocolate bar companies - - - McDonalds - - - and Coca Cola - - - The American Academy of Family Physicians was questioned on their - - - relationship with Coca Cola - - - They’d had relationships with Pepsico and McDonalds - - - they had financial ties to cigarette maker Philip Morris. - - - - The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics - - - - continues to take millions of dollars from processed junk food - - - and confectionary companies.”
Quoting from the same book – page 240:- “According to published literature, the results of nearly all antidepressant tests were positive. In contrast, FDA analysis of trial data – including the unpublished studies – demonstrated that roughly half the trials showed the drugs didn’t work after all. When all the data – published and unpublished – was combined, antidepressants failed to show a clinically significant advantage over placebo sugar pills.” (My comment:- Clearly the negative results were suppressed, ie:- censored!)
The next quote is from The TLS (Times Literary Supplement), October 11th 2019. Page 26 to 27, article Scientific Wasteland – Some Problems with Psychiatry, by Andrew Scull (review of the book Mind Fixes, by Anne Harrington.) “She (ie:- Anne Harrington) records how (pharmaceutical company) Eli Lilly plotted to make - - -Zyprexa a blockbuster drug - - - by marketing it as a treatment for bipolar disorder - - - and insomnia, INDICATIONS FOR WHICH THEIR WAS NO SCIENTIFIC WARRANT - - - - DOWN-PLAYING OR SUPPRESSING EVIDENCE that there was a strong link between Zyprexa and medication-induced obesity - - - - and diabetes - - - suppressing unfavourable clinical trials, misrepresenting the dangers - - - - (pharmaceutical company) Glaxo Smith Kline fined three billion dollars for FRAUDULENT sales of Paxil - - - and other drugs - - - (pharmaceutical company) Johnson and Johnson (fined) 2.2 billion dollars for mis-marketing Risperdal - - - - (pharmaceutical company) Abbot Pharmaceuticals (fined) 1.5 billion dollars in - - - criminal penalties for marketing Depakote for dementia and schizophrenia, CONDITIONS FOR WHICH THEY ARE USELESS.” (My capitals.)
The next quote is from The Times, Saturday, March 2nd 2019, page 21, article:- AI Military Weapon Will Take Fight to Bad Science, by Rhys Blakely, science correspondent:-“To identify suspect research from psychiatrists - - - - one review that re-examined 21 studies published by (the journals) Nature and Science - - - -found that only 13 (of these studies) could be replicated.”
The next quote is from New Scientist (magazine), April 16th, 2016, pages 39 to 41, article:- The Unscientific Method, by Sonia van Gilder Cooke:- “Just 11% of the - - - cancer studies coming out of the academic pipeline were replicable - - - dodgy statistics are rife in the biological sciences.”
The next quote is from the book My Life Among The Serial Killers, by Helen Morrison M.D. (certified by The Board of Psychiatry And Neurology for general psychiatry), published by Wiley, 2004, page 68:-
“Doctor Morrison, I’d like you to be a witness for the defence of the (John Wayne) Gacy case,” said Amirante. “We’re going to go for an insanity plea.” (She replied) “Hold on, Sam. That all depends on what I find after I examine him.” I couldn’t simply sign on to be a part of any old team, defence or prosecution. TOO MANY PEOPLE WERE ALREADY “DOCTORS FOR HIRE” BY LAWYERS, PROFESSIONALS WHO WOULD AGREE TO SAY WHAT THEY WERE TOLD TO SAY FOR THE MONEY.” (My capitals.)
The next quote is from the book Eyes Wide Open. How To Make Smart Decisions in a Confusing World, by Noreen Hertz, published by William Collins, 2013, pages 88 to 89:-
“UP TO A THIRD OF SCIENTISTS ADMIT CHANGING THE - - - RESULTS OF A STUDY IN RESPONSE TO THE PRESSURES FROM A FUNDING SOURCE - - - EIGHTY ONE PERCENT OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH TRAINEES SAID THEY WOULD BE WILLING TO - - - FABRICATE DATA TO - - - WIN A GRANT. A recent study - - - revealed that OVER FORTY PERCENT OF - - - - SCIENTIFIC PAPERS - - - HAVE MISREPRESENTED THE ACTUAL FINDINGS OF RESEARCH, LARGELY DUE TO FUNDING PRESSURE. - - - - Numerous studies have shown that INDUSTRY SPONSORED CLINICAL TRIALS ARE OFTEN BIASED IN FAVOUR OF THE SPONSOR.” (My capitals.)
The next quote is from (the magazine) Scientific American, issue for December 2012, pages 43 to 49. Article:- Is Drug Research Trustworthy?, by Charles Seife:- “The pharmaceutical industry - - - funnels large sums of money - - - - into the pockets of independent medical researchers who are doing work - - - - on the drugs these firms are making.” - - - The article quotes Eric Campbell:- “(In) Academic research - - - - industry relationships - - - (are) a ubiquitous affair.” The article continues:- “A pharmaceutical manufacturer has an article drafted, and pays a scientist - - - - to put his - - - name on it and submit it to a peer reviewed journal.” The article quotes Marcia Angell (former Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine:- “TO BUY A DISTINGUISHED, SENIOR ACADEMIC RESEARCHER - - - that’s worth 100,000 salespeople.” The article continues:- “DRUG INDUSTRY MONEY IS - - - UNDERMINING SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVITY.” The article tells of a 1998 study in The New England Journal of Medicine which found a “strong association” between researchers conclusions about the safety of calcium channel blockers - - - and their financial relationships with the firms producing the drugs - - - - a trail of biased research and cash to scientists - - - - 87 PERCENT OF RESEARCHERS WHO EXPRESSED FAVOURABLE VIEWS OF - - - DIABETES DRUG AVANDIA, DESPITE - - - RISK OF HEART ATTACKS, HAD SOME FINANCIAL INVOLVEMENT WITH THE DRUG MANUFACTURER - - - - THERE IS TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL FOR CORRUPTION.” (My capitals.)
The next quote is from (the magazine) New Scientist, January 13th, 2018, pages 35 to 37. Article:- Against The Tide In An Ocean of Opioids, by Wendy Glaucer.
“Researchers who blamed the epidemic (of opioid deaths) on the rise in prescription opioids found their work “ripped apart” in - - - academic journals - - - MANY CRITICS WERE LATER REVEALED TO HAVE BEEN PAID HANDSOMELY BY THE FIRMS MAKING THE DRUGS - - - - FIRMS, NOTABLY PURDUE PHARMA AGREED TO PAY 600 MILLION (US) DOLLARS IN FINES, AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO MISLEADING THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE ADDICTIVE NATURE OF OPIOIDS. - - - - - Kolodny - - - interviewed Russell Portenoy - - - -WHO BENEFITED FROM SUBSTANTIAL PAYMENTS FROM OPIOID MANUFACTURERES. In a surprisingly candid moment, Portenoy admits to Kolodny “BECAUSE THE PRIMARY GOAL WAS TO DE-STIGMATISE (OPIOIDS), WE OFTEN LEFT EVIDENCE BEHIND”. (My capitals.)
The next quote is from the book Forbidden Science, edited by J. Douglas Kenyon, published by Bear and Company, Rochester, Vermont, USA, page 3:-
According to a report published in the British journal Nature, ONE IN THREE SCIENTISTS, in an anonymous survey, ADMITTED TO BREAKING - - in the last three years - - - RULES DESIGNED TO ENSURE THE HONESTY OF THEIR WORK. - - - The misbehaviours - - - range from claiming credit for someone else’s work to CHANGING STUDY RESULTS DUE TO PRESSURE FROM A SPONSOR.” (My capitals.)
Here is a quote from Upton Sinclair:- “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his NOT understanding it” (Quoted from The Spectator, May 5th, 2018, page 23, Article:- We Don’t Deserve Capitalism, by James Delingpole.)
Here is a quote from the book The Dark Side of The Mind, by Kerry Daynes (consultant forensic psychologist), published by Endeavour, 2019, page 95:- “ - - - an ever-expanding list of (psychiatric) disorders (there are over 300 of them in the DSM (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) alone right now, each one voted for inclusion by a committee of the world’s most powerful psychiatrists, A LARGE PROPORTION OF WHOM HAVE INTERESTS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY) (My capitals.)
A quote from the same book – page 89:- “I called my supervisor Doctor Renton - - - He ran his own medico-legal psychology practice on the side and was proud of his growing popularity among certain lawyers who could rely upon him to identify a severe mental health issue in any or all of their clients.”